About 100 years ago, a predator control program at Yellowstone National Park drove the wolves native to the region extinct. That kicked off the gradual deterioration of the entire ecosystem. Without wolves, the elk population exploded, leading to overgrazing. Without trees and plants of adequate size, beavers were unable to make dams. This in turn […]
Tag: extinction
Dam-building spree pushes Amazon Basin’s aquatic life closer to extinction
“People need to think about river basins or freshwater systems like a heart, a living system,” says Bernardo Caldas, from WWF-Brasil. Caldas is the co-lead author of a new study investigating how freshwater systems in the Amazon Basin are interconnected. It’s the first study of its kind to combine two layers of analysis of 6,000 […]
Madagascar’s unique wildlife faces imminent wave of extinction, say scientists
From the ring-tailed lemur to the aye-aye, a nocturnal primate, more than 20m years of unique evolutionary history could be wiped from the planet if nothing is done to stop Madagascar’s threatened mammals going extinct, according to a new study. It would already take 3m years to recover the diversity of mammal species driven to […]
The future of life on Earth depends on curbing overpopulation
Leading scientists state that the huge scale of “human-driven” loss of species demands urgent action. They are right. But your article (Animal populations experience average decline of almost 70% since 1970, report reveals, 13 October) fails to reference a key driver of biodiversity loss – the continuing unsustainable growth of our own human population – […]
Australia Aims to End Species Extinctions — Can Its New Plan Succeed?
Australia has one of the highest rates of species extinctions in the world, but it has just announced an initiative to preserve 30% of the country’s land mass by 2030 in order to bring species extinctions down entirely to zero. Australia is home to many unique plants and animals, but increasing extreme weather events, including […]
Study Warns Half Of All Birds Are Moving Toward Extinction
A new study released on bird populations is both troubling and startling. It found that half of all birds are declining, with one in eight species being threatened by extinction. The century-old conservation organization, BirdLife International, released its fifth edition of the State of the World’s Birds report, but the findings weren’t what conservationists hoped. […]
The Gentle Giant Of The Sea Is Now Declared Functionally Extinct In China
Dugongs are now declared as functionally extinct in China, scientists said in a study published last month. More commonly known as “sea cows,” dugongs are graceful creatures that graze on sea grasses in shallow coastal waters in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. These creatures, along with the similar-looking manatees, are also believed to be […]
Which Mammals Can Best Survive Climate Change?
With the world experiencing more extreme weather due to climate change, landscapes are being altered and ecosystems are having to respond quickly. So which species are going to struggle and which are going to fare relatively well as extended droughts, heavy rains and floods reshape the world’s terrain? In a new study, biologists Christie Le […]